Articles Posted inClass Action

Des Moines-based broker Voya Financial Advisors (VFA) has been fined $1 million in a cybersecurity case that’s the first under the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. VFA has agreed to pay the fines in relation to a case that saw their systems compromised and the personal information of thousands of the firm’s customers at risk.

The SEC announced this week that it has charged VFA with violating the Safeguards Rule and the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. These rules were designed to protect customers from cyberattack activity, and protect customers and their confidential information.

In April 2016, over a six-day period, one or more individuals posing as an independent contractor called VFA’s technical support number to request portal password resets for three representatives. Two of those calls came from phone numbers that were used in previous fraudulent activities. Technical support personnel not only reset these passwords but provided the usernames as well.

Leon Vaccarelli allegedly defrauded a total of nine clients out of more than $1 million

In May, former financial advisor Leon Vaccarelli was charged with 12 counts of fraud and money laundering in a federal court in Connecticut. If convicted on all of them, he could receive a maximum penalty of 210 years in prison. After pleading not guilty, Vaccarelli was released on a $100,000 bond.

Vaccarelli is alleged to have stolen money from several clients between 2011 and 2017. During that time, he reportedly informed his clients that their money would be invested in different places, including money market accounts and retirement products. What Vaccarelli actually did, according to investigators, was put the money into his own account and use it to pay his own expenses. In addition, federal prosecutors also say that he also used client money to make interest payments to other investors.

Silver Law Group continues to investigate Perry Santillo Jr. (“Santillo”), founder and chief executive of High Point Wealth Management. According to a recent Investment News article, Santillo was barred by Maryland regulators for “dishonest and unethical trade practices,” that included selling unregistered securities by fraudulent means. Santillo allegedly solicited clients from an investment advisory business he acquired last year from its barred owner, Philip Rousseaux. Santillo faces almost $3.5 million in civil penalties and fines. Santillo acquired Everest Investment Advisors after its owner, Mr. Rousseaux, had his registration as an investment adviser revoked in March for deceptive securities sales practices. Mr. Rousseaux previously recruited clients through his popular infomercials featuring “The Money Guys.” Santillo, according to the order barring him, in November began soliciting former Everest clients through e-mails explaining how their transition would work in regards to their investments. He would then advise them to sell securities and transfer assets to a self-directed IRA. He also asked client to sell their annuities in face-to-face meetings. Then, Santillo would recommend the clients invest in unsecured promissory notes that were used to finance his own companies.

Santillo, Chris Parris and others are accused of running a massive Ponzi scheme and paying former stockbrokers and investment advisors to retire and send their clients to their companies. Silver Law Group is assisting investors who were encouraged to liquidate retirement accounts and other investments to invest in the First Nationle Ponzi scheme.

Silver Law Group is representing investors in claims against their former advisors who recommended that their clients invest with Santillo, Chris Parris, Nationle or United RL. Investors allege that their former advisors failed to inform them that their stockbrokers failed to tell them that they had received money for the recommendation or that their financial advisor had failed to conduct reasonable due diligence into Santillo and his partners.

Following the SEC charging five individuals with fraud related to a Ponzi scheme, Bank of America (“BOA”) has now been sued over its involvement with the First Nationle scheme. The class-action suit on behalf of multiple investors who lost money alleges that BOA provided more than 100 accounts for the individuals to perpetuate their scheme. Others charged in the scheme include Perry Santillo, Chris Parris, Paul LaRocco, Percipience and United RL.

According to the complaint, the brother and sister that sued to recover losses from their late father’s investment allege that the fraudsters “could not have perpetuated their scheme without the knowing assistance of their primary banking institution, Bank of America, which lent the scheme an air of legitimacy and provided critical support, including at times when the scheme would have otherwise collapsed.”

After promising to invest the monies into profitable and dividend paying companies, they used the funds for lavish personal expenses and to pay “dividends” to other investors. The bank is accused of failing to catch their suspicious activity, which included transfers of large amounts of cash into accounts with small, negative or even non-existent balances, and then transferring the cash out in the same week. The money was transferred to their personal accounts, or to that of some of the investors. This fraud occurred over a period of time beginning in or about 2011. By not alerting authorities or putting a stop to the fraudulent activity, BOA assisted in the perpetuation of the scheme.

Akers Bioscience went public in 2014 using Aegis Financial as its investment banker and underwriter. In a subsequent offering in 2017, Akers investment banker and underwriter was Joseph Gunnar.

Akers Bioscience develops, manufactures, and supplies rapid screening and testing products designed to deliver quicker and more cost-effective healthcare information to healthcare providers and consumers. The Company has advanced the science of diagnostics while responding to major shifts in healthcare through the development of several proprietary platform technologies. The Company’s state-of-the-art rapid diagnostic assays can be performed virtually anywhere in minutes when time is of the essence. The Company has aligned with major healthcare companies and high volume medical product distributors to maximize product offerings, and to be a major worldwide competitor in diagnostics.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Akers Biosciences, Inc. (“Akers” or the “Company”) (AKER) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, District of New Jersey, and docketed under 18-cv-10805, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise, acquired Akers between May 15, 2017, through June 5, 2018, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

Recro is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops non-opioid therapeutics for the treatment of pain in the post-operative setting. Recro offers its products to the medical industry. The Company’s lead product is a proprietary injectable form of meloxicam, a long-acting preferential COX-2 inhibitor (“IV meloxicam”) to be used for the management of moderate to severe pain.

Recro Pharma is the subject of a class action complaint that alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) IV meloxicam lacked supporting clinical data to show sufficient clinical benefits to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approval; and (ii) as a result, Recro’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On May 24, 2018, Recro announced that the FDA had declined to approve Recro’s New Drug Application (“NDA”) for IV meloxicam. In its Complete Response Letter, the FDA stated that the drug’s analgesic effects did not meet FDA expectations and raised questions related to chemistry, manufacturing and controls data.

Silver Law Group is investigating claims involving National Securities’ sale of Restoration Robotics to investors through its IPO and in Reg D or private placement offerings.

If you invested in Restoration Robotics common stock or in a private placement and would like to discuss your legal rights, please contact our firm. There is no cost or obligation to you. You can also contact us by calling Scott L. Silver toll free at (800) 975-4345 or by sending an e-mail to ssilver@silverlaw.com.

A lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of all those who purchased Restoration common stock pursuant or traceable to the Company’s Initial Public Offering (the “IPO” or “Offering”) that commenced on October 12, 2017 and closed on October 16, 2017. The case, Guerrini v. Restoration Robotics, Inc. et al., No. 18-cv-03712 was filed on June 21, 2018, and has been assigned to Judge Edward John Davila.

A class action has been filed against Restoration Robotics, Inc. (“HAIR”), National Securities Corporation (“National Securities”) and others. The complaint alleges that Restoration Robotics negligently issued untrue statements of material facts in, and omitted to state material facts required to be started from, the prospectus issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering (“IPO”). At the time of the IPO, Restoration Robotics sold approximately 4 million shares at a price of $7.00 per share. Restoration Robotics stock has dropped dramatically trading under $3.00 a share on June 22, 2018.

National Securities served as an underwriter for the Company’s IPO agreeing to purchase 2,145,000 shares of the Company common stock, exclusive any over-allotment option. National Securities previously served as Restoration Robotics investment banker raising several million dollars in a Reg D offering in 2016. According to the complaint, National Securities collected fees from commissions and discounts in excess of $1,100,000 in the IPO.

According to the class action complaint, Restoration Robotics was incorporated in 2002 under the laws of the State of Delaware. At the time of the IPO, the Company also had three wholly-owned subsidiaries: (i) Restoration Robotics, Inc. Limited, (ii) Restoration Robotics Europe Limited, Incorporated, and (iii) Restoration Robotics Korea Yuhan Hoesa, Incorporated.

Silver Law Group announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Cancer Genetics, Inc. (“Cancer Genetics” or the “Company”) (CGIX) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, District of New Jersey, and docketed under 18-cv-06353, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Cancer Genetics securities between March 23, 2017 through April 2, 2018, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Cancer Genetics securities between March 23, 2017, and April 2, 2018, both dates inclusive, you have until June 4, 2018, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. To discuss this action, contact Scott L. Silver at ssilver@silverlaw.com or (800) 975-4345 toll-free. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

Cancer Genetics is a diagnostics company focused on the development and commercialization of proprietary genomic tests and services to improve the diagnosis, prognosis, and response to treatment (theranosis) of cancer. Cancer Genetics went public in 2013 raising approximately $6,000,000. The lead underwriters were Aegis Capital Group and Feltl & Company, Inc.

On December 8, 2017, the University of Miami School of Law held its annual class action forum. Of particular interest was hot topics in class action and mass torts plus a keynote speech from the attorney representing many NFL players in litigation relating to concussions.

Scott Silver is a 1996 graduate of Miami Law School and an active member of the Law School alumni program. In 2016, Silver Law Group was instrumental in helping the University of Miami Investor Rights Clinic receive a $107,000 Cy Pres Award from one of our class actions relating to the U.S. Pension Trust Corp. fraud which resulted in a substantial recovery for our clients.

The Investor Rights Clinic is an important program which teaches students about securities arbitration while helping investors, who may not be able to find counsel, pursue FINRA arbitration claims for securities and investment fraud. Scott Silver is a frequent lecturer at investor rights clinics around the country including University of Miami and Albany Law School in New York.